The key is to make sure to split the shell on the side facing up, when grilling. Then you can baste the meat with your choice or butter/spices. Also, make sure to cover the grill (helps to promote quicker, more even cooking).

Also, most people prefer to do just the tails, but, I've done both and was pleased with the results.

I'm a grilling/BBQ fanatic. Like grilling in the snow crazy. I have a beat to crap Weber One-Touch (70-something dollars at lowes; a steal. Absolute steal. If you're not using one, it is an almost certainty that unless you are some crazy customizer who fabricated you own setup, in which case I bow my head to you and respect the passion, you're using the wrong grill.

The proper way to charcoal grill is not to put a pile in the middle, spray lighter fluid on it, and then spread it out evenly in a uniform layer. I know this makes a ton of sense to do, but its wrong.

The proper way is to buy a $15 dollar charcoal chimney from a hardware store, put newspaper in the bottom compartment (I like to rub a little veg oil on one of the pieces to accelerate the process a little. You don't need much, a tablespoon or less), flip it over so the newspaper is on the bottom (placing it on the grill grate where the charcoal will eventually go) , and loading the top with kingsford charcoal briquettes. You can buy other charcoal, but you shouldn't buy cheaper charcoal. Kingsford burns long and even, and is available anywhere. You light the news paper and screw around doing something else for 20 minutes or so. You know it's ready when the top layer of charcoal has some hot grey patches, but isn't totally grey.

You then figure out which direction the wind is blowing from, and picture your kettle like a pie cut in half. You then dump your now ready charcoal all into whichever side of the kettle the wind is blowing from, leaving the other side of the kettle barren.

Put the cooking grill on the rack above the charcoal, and position the top so that the air holds are positioned opposite the side the charcoal is on. This creates a smoke/heat tunnel that translates beautifully from one side to the other.

You now have a two-zone grill. If you want to have my theory proven to you, make chicken thighs (bone-in). Paint each side of the thigh with veggie oil, season with salt and pepper, put them skin side down on the back-side of the grill (the side without the charcoal on it), and put the top on. Leave it alone for 30 minutes. After a half an hour, come back, slather that piece of dead poultry with your favorite BBQ sauce, put them skin side up now, then put the top back on and give it 10 more minutes. After 10 minutes, slather again, keeping skin side up. 10 more minutes, then they're done.

You now have the most perfectly cooked chicken thighs you've ever tasted.

I am obsessive about very few things; grilling, excellent beers, the celtics, great fantasy novels, good pop-culture, and great video games.

The proper way is to buy a $15 dollar charcoal chimney from a hardware store, put newspaper in the bottom compartment (I like to rub a little veg oil on one of the pieces to accelerate the process a little. You don't need much, a tablespoon or less), flip it over so the newspaper is on the bottom (placing it on the grill grate where the charcoal will eventually go) , and loading the top with kingsford charcoal briquettes.

A tip for winedrinkers: take the corks from opened bottles of wine, collect them in a jar, and let them soak in rubbing alcohol for a while.

3) do 2-stage grilling like I have above (or crank up your gas grill if that's your jam), and grill meat with cover off directly over the flames, a handful of pieces at a time. Turn them when they start to get grill marks and a few singes, cook on all sides, take a bite out of the first batch to see if you like their done-ness, and cook the rest to your taste.

It's easy, and worth it. Made me abandon skewers for everything besides shrimp and Greek meatballs. You can eat them alone, or more traditionally in a crusty toasted bun like sausage peppers and onions. I like to eat mine in pitas with tzaiki (I can't spell that word..it's gyro sauce, Greek yogurt, mint, garlic, cucumbers, lemon juice, salt)

The proper way is to buy a $15 dollar charcoal chimney from a hardware store, put newspaper in the bottom compartment (I like to rub a little veg oil on one of the pieces to accelerate the process a little. You don't need much, a tablespoon or less), flip it over so the newspaper is on the bottom (placing it on the grill grate where the charcoal will eventually go) , and loading the top with kingsford charcoal briquettes.

A tip for winedrinkers: take the corks from opened bottles of wine, collect them in a jar, and let them soak in rubbing alcohol for a while.

3) do 2-stage grilling like I have above (or crank up your gas grill if that's your jam), and grill meat with cover off directly over the flames, a handful of pieces at a time. Turn them when they start to get grill marks and a few singes, cook on all sides, take a bite out of the first batch to see if you like their done-ness, and cook the rest to your taste.

It's easy, and worth it. Made me abandon skewers for everything besides shrimp and Greek meatballs. You can eat them alone, or more traditionally in a crusty toasted bun like sausage peppers and onions. I like to eat mine in pitas with tzaiki (I can't spell that word..it's gyro sauce, Greek yogurt, mint, garlic, cucumbers, lemon juice, salt)

Tzatziki. It's pretty good. Where I come from, we pretty much make a yogurt soup version from it (hold the mint and the lemon juice, add dill, water, and some olive oil).

I actually like the way that a tightly packed skewer cooks: crispy on the outside, softer where the they're stacked against each other. I even cut the meat in longer stripes and fold it to get more of the second effect.

I grill a fair amount. I have a beat up old Weber gas grill that seems to be getting a new lease on life.

I love grilling veggies, and but the thing I have absolutely perfected and probably enjoy eating the most is a nice thick fresh slab of swordfish. I have what I call my 3-3-2-2 method.

You want your grill on a very high heat before you put the fish on it. Slather enough mayo to cover one side of the swordfish steak, then crack a little bit of black pepper on it. Put the fish on the hot spot of the grill mayo side down (expect a a pretty good flare). Squeeze a little lemon on the top side and cover the grill for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes slather top side with mayo and crack some pepper. Flip the steak and squeeze lemon on cooked side. Coofor 2 more minutes on each side squeezing Lemon on each turn.

Ok so this is the scouting report. I'm essentially a rookie griller so feel free to laugh

ground linguica....so it comes out of the pack sorta congealed, but then it crumbles on the grill. Sorta the exact opposite of ground beef. So I tried to save it and put a lot of it into hot dog rolls and hamburger buns, then wrapped up the buns in foil. The hot dogs came out good. The five year old liked it. The buns I burned. Fail. I needed to wrap them up from the beginning I guess.

Grilled fruit kabobs. I forgot how resistant fruit is. I mean fruit protects seeds. So naturally I poked my finger. Be careful. I thought it was ok. Kid thought it was ok. Mrs. eja likes fruit and didn't really like this. It was just like warmed up fruit. If you like fruit pies you'd probably like this. I ate a lot. It looks good.

Grilled donuts. The chocolate croissant came out best. I grilled a lot and didn't get to eat them all. I think they might have come out toasted. Cutting them lengthwise didn't work great. Anything with chocolate icing will get your deck, grill, fingers, etc messy. The 5 year old will get it on his clothes and possibly the wall. You need to be prepared. You could drip on the deck too.

The 5 year old said it was the best meal of all time. Mrs. eja admitted it was worth a try and wasn't too bad. I was surprised she liked the linguicia hot dog. But she got stuck doing a lot of cleaning while I gave the kid a shower.